How Much Money I’ve Spent on my France Collection

Want to know why Fast Fashion prevails and sewing is a lost art? It comes down to one thing, money.

Sure, to sew for yourself is a slower way to wear the trends as opposed to buying them. But the satisfaction MORE than makes up for that. It’s the cost associated with buying fabric (spoiler alert= it’s expensive) as well as sourcing the right zippers, buttons, interfacings, trims etc. and paying RETAIL PRICES FOR IT ALL.

Today I thought I would pull back the curtain on how much this 7 piece collection has cost me so far, including everything from fabric to thread to zippers to the wrong purchases I made. Hopefully it helps you to understand the cost associated with making things in the US, as well as validates the amount of money you are willing to spend on the next handmade item you fall in love with. Here goes…!

How Much Money I’ve Spent on my France Collection

Description

Amount

Spoonflower Swatches (Toiles and Chiffon Prints)

$41.51

Spoonflower Fabric (Toiles and Chiffon Prints)

$203.07

Joanns Fabrics (Interfacing)

$35.95

Joanns Fabrics (Eyelets and Gingham)

$144.26

Joanns Fabrics (Eyelets and Gingham)

$35.72

Joanns Notions

$6.15

Joanns Notions

$19.58

Joanns Notions

$47.62

McCall’s Pattern for Pants

$11.08

StoneMountain & Daughter Notions

$25.00

Amazon (Cording)

$14.99

Amazon (Patches)

$9.00

Zipperstop (Long Zippers)

$18.94

Etsy (Patches, didn’t use)

$36.53

Etsy (Brass Zippers)

$13.85

Total

$663.25

Sure, 7 items at $663 comes out to roughly $95 an item, which is of course less expensive than if you were to find these items individually…. but man, that’s still a lot of dough! Frankly, before I added it up I thought it was even more, because the amount of time I spend in line for checkout or cutting, or scouring things off the internet to me makes me think I am spending at least double. And I guess I am, if you think about what my time is worth.

However, EVEN THOUGH this is not an inexpensive hobby, it is 100% worth it. I learned sooo much in the process of making these 6 items (the 7th may or may not happen at this point), and am so proud of mostly… all of it. I’ve managed to make items that not only feel fashionable, but that I actually want to wear, and it’s killing me that they are all currently sitting in my closet just waiting for my France trip to be worn! Not everything turned out perfectly, but as the french say, c’est la vie!